Impromptu Duel

Legend of the Five Rings card from Celestial Edition, Lotus Edition, Samurai Edition, Training Grounds 2, Path of Hope, Drums of War, Glory of the Empire, Promotional–Samurai

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Keywords

Iaijutsu

Card Text

Limited: Choose your performing unbowed Samurai or Duelist Personality and target another player's Personality: Your Personality challenges the target. The other player may refuse; if he did, dishonor his Personality and gain 4 Honor. Destroy the duel's loser. The winner gains 2 Honor.

Focus Value

3

Legality

Age of Enlightenment (Lotus), Destroyer War (Celestial), Race for the Throne (Samurai)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Impromptu Duel 0G 3FV Iaijutsu Limited: Target your unbowed Samurai or Duelist Personality: He challenges another player’s target Personality. The other player may refuse; if he does, dishonor his Personality and gain 4 Honor. Destroy the duel’s loser. The winner gains 2 Honor." [MRP, Celestial Edition, 29 June 2009] Comprehensive Rules, Celestial Edition, with specific card rulings, final version, February 2012, p. 139
• Erratum: Reads, "Impromptu Duel 0G 3FV Iaijutsu Limited: Target one of your unbowed Samurai or Duelist Personalities: He challenges another player’s target Personality. The other player may refuse; if he does, dishonor his Personality and gain 4 Honor. Destroy the duel’s loser. The winner gains 2 Honor." [MRP, Samurai Edition, 25 July 2007] Comprehensive Rules, Samurai Edition, with specific card rulings, final version, May 2009, p. 140

Rules Q&A

• Q: If the personality is already dishonored can they still refuse the duel?
  A: Yes. Dishonor is an effect, not a cost, of refusal. Zen Faulkes, "Impromptu Duel", 15 Apr 2011
• Q: If I use Impromptu Duel & my opponent has focused an Arrows Do Not Falter whose focus effect would kill my challenging personality before the duel ends, would the only surviving person be considered the winner of the duel and gain 2 honor?
  A: No.
  Challenges and Duels: If a Personality involved in a challenge or duel leaves play during it, the challenge or duel ends immediately without resolution. In particular, Focus Effects that have not yet resolved at that point do not resolve at all. Alex Jones, "arrows do not falter and Impromptu Duel", 5 Jun 2010
• Q: My opponent uses Impromptu Duel targetting my personality. I have The Thriving Light in hand. What I'd like to do is one of the following: 1) If my opponent uses Hamstrung's Focus Effect, I'd like to reduce that gain to 0. 2) If my opponent wins the duel, I'd like to reduce the 2 honor gain from Impromptu Duel to 0. 3) If my opponent neither wins the duel nor focuses Hamstrung, I would like to have not played my Thriving Light.
  So the question is, what is the timing of playing The Thriving Light for options 1 and 2? 1) If I want to reduce the honor from Hamstrung's Focus Effect, when do I play The Thriving Light? 2) If I want to reduce the honor gain for Impromptu Duel (the 2 honor for winning the duel), can I play that after the outcome of the duel is decided, or is that too late? Do I have to play it before the duel starts?
  A: You cannot choose the timing for The Thriving Light: it can only be played "Before an action's resolution". If you play it, you cannot choose which honour gain or loss will be reduced. It will reduce the first honour gain or loss by 5 and no other.
  If your opponent uses Hamstrung's Focus Effect to try to gain honour (and no other gain or loss has occured first), The Thriving Light will reduce that gain to zero. If your opponent wins the duel, and would gain 2 honour from doing so (and no other gain or loss has occured first), The Thriving Light will reduce that gain to zero. If your opponent neither wins the duel nor focuses Hamstrung, your The Thriving Light will probably have been wasted. Alex Jones, "The Thriving Light + Hamstrung", 26 Mar 2010
• Q: (I)f I use Hamstrung's reaction before the resolution of a non-relevant action (for example, Impromptu Duel), was Hamstrung "Successful" for purposes of Ring of the Void?
  A: No.
  http://rules.l5r.com/Glossary_S#Successful: "Effects that... had nothing to affect are not actual changes in the game state." Zen Faulkes, "Hamstrung + Ring of the Void", 30 Jul 2009
• Q: Kakita Kaisei Crane Clan Samurai • Courtier • Duelist • Magistrate Reaction: After Kaisei issues a challenge: Target a Personality controlled by the challenged player. Refusing the challenge has the additional cost of Dishonoring the target. (If it already has the cost of Dishonoring that target, the challenge may not be refused.)
  Impromptu Duel Iaijutsu Limited: Target one of your unbowed Samurai or Duelist Personalities: He challenges another player’s target Personality. The other plaer may refuse; if he does, dishonor his Personality and gain 4 Honor. Destroy the duel’s loser. The winner gains 2 Honor.
  How does Kakita Kaisei work with Impromptu Duel?
  It looks like dishonoring is an effect of refusing...
  A: I assume you're referring to Impromptu Duel in your last sentence quoted above, and that's correct. If you use Kaisei's Reaction to him issuing Impromptu Duel's challenge, an honorable Personality could pay the cost to refuse. Impromptu would then try to dishonor him as an effect for refusing, which would just fizzle if he is already dishonorable from paying the cost to refuse that Kaisei added. Brook Cunningham, "Kakita Kaisei + Dishonoring as a cost", 29 May 2008
• Q: My question is when the other player accepts the challenge, form Impromptu Duel, are the personalities in the duel consider oppposed???
  A: No, sorry.
  "Opposed" means:
  http://rules.l5r.com/Glossary_O#Opposed: "Refers to a card, side or army at a battlefield that has one or more units in the side opposing it."
  Personalities are not "opposed" in duels, although (as my link above does go on to say) the specific expression "to oppose X in a duel" does mean, "to be the other Personality in a duel against X." It's a minute but important distinction that, admittedly, is a bit confusing.
  But... I have a feeling you won't have to worry about it much longer. As the Story Team often says (to a greater effect of suspense, unless Rules termanology really excites you): Wait and see. Brook Cunningham, "silly question concerning Impromptu Duel", 25 Apr 2008
• Q: (For) a duel that occures during the Action Phase (like Impromptu Duel), (Bayushi) Hisako's destruction can't trigger her Reaction?
  A: Correct. Zen Faulkes, "Bayushi Hisako and "Opposed"", 28 Aug 2007
• Q: Somehow, I get to increase Ohan's Chi by 1 (either by attachments etc). My opponent uses Impromptu Duel on one of my Personalities, and I refused. Can I gain his Honor instead by using Ohan's ability, since the honor gain is not a esult of the duel?
  A: No. Rules Archive, Duels, Resolution: "'Honor from a duel' refers to honor gains that are written as part of the action (or non-action card effect) that initiated the duel." The gain from refusal is part of the action, so is from a duel. Zen Faulkes, "a question about Shosuro Ohan", 7 May 2006
• Q: [CE] Does the reaction from this card negate the honor gain from Impromptu duel if i refuse the duel?
  A: Yes. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 5 May 2025